CNET’s Paul Sloan calls it "the greatest landgrab in Internet history.” The new gTLD application window that opened on January 12, 2012 and closed on May 30th is finally revealed with all of the gTLD strings applied for during this round announced today at a press conference in London. From .AAA (filed by the American Automobile Association to .zippo, there were 1,930 top-level domain applications in all, with a few surprises including what wasn't on the list.

“One of the biggest 'reveals' of the day has been the absence of some very significant players: we did NOT see .FACEBOOK, .COKE, .COCACOLA or .PEPSI, .DISNEY, .IKEA, .EBAY, .NINTENDO or .NESTLE or .NESCAFE,” stated FairWinds Partners, which submitted applications on behalf of clients such as Allstate (.allstate), Symantec (.antivirus) and SC Johnson (.afamilycompany). “The heaviest-hitting industries are Auto, Finance and Pharmaceuticals. We've also seen many brands apply for generic terms. Google is a big one, of course, with 101 applications in total, as is Amazon.”

What we did see, as the Washington Post notes: "Amazon.com wants '.joy,' Google wants '.love' and L'Oreal wants '.beauty.'" The most coveted domain? .APP.Continue reading...

When Matt Cutts speaks, people listen. So when Google’s software engineer and webspam guru recently posted (on his Google+ page, of course) that ICANN's looming dotbrands — the generic (vanity, customized, branded) top level domains or TLDs that are fast approaching — won't boost search engine results, the SEO and domain name worlds sat upright.

Cutts was responding to ARI Registry Services CEO Adrian Kinderis, who penned an op-ed column that argued: “Will a new TLD web address automatically be favoured by Google over a .com equivalent? Quite simply, yes it will,” wrote Kinderis, basing his argument on Google’s ranking algorithms that search for domain name keywords thus enabling business and brands to create commanding "clean name spaces."Continue reading...

ICANN 43, the other digital conference of note this week, wraps up today in Costa Rica with a piece of the Internet’s future in hand, as the April 12th deadline for domain name applications draws near.

As of March 10th, an estimated 254 applicants had registered their intent to apply for generic top-level domain names or so-called dot-brands, each one having up to 50 new gTLDs, although "the actual number of new gTLDs for which application will be made is still unknown," according to an official advisory.

The expectation is the number will be relatively low as major companies including Coca-Cola and General Electric plus 50 or so other big brands remain opposed, citing reasons of increased costs, customer confusion and potential for Internet fraud.Continue reading...